Tag Archive: propaganda

DURHAM — On Saturday, members of the National Guard arrived at the armory off North Duke Street in Durham to find it locked and vandalized.

A group that identified its members only as “some Bull City anarchists” glued five sets of locks on the armory’s fenced lot to interrupt traffic flow and chained the front doors of the armory shut. Officers from the Durham Police Department responded at 6:41 a.m. on Saturday, said spokeswoman Kammie Michael.

The vandals’ hope was to disrupt the National Guard’s weekend operations, according to an anonymous message sent to The Herald-Sun and posted on anarchistnews.org.

The anarchists also left a message in red spray paint on the front of the building: “Disobey orders. Solidarity with Missouri Rebels. (Expletive) the Police.”

Lt. Cl. Matt Devivo, director of public affairs for the North Carolina National Guard, said the weekend drill was not disrupted, and that safety and operation are the National Guard’s top priorities.

“We definitely take it pretty seriously and are working with the Durham Police Department on the investigation,” said a representative at the armory.

Devivo said that the armory had the equipment on hand to remove the locks and clean up glue that was poured into keyholes.

In the anonymous message, the vandals said that their actions were to support rioters in Ferguson, Missouri, after the National Guard occupied the town in the wake of the shooting death of Michael Brown.

The group also had a message for the National Guard in Durham.

“To those of you who train at this facility,” the anonymous email said, “we would encourage you to think now about what it would mean to fire on your own neighbors and community members. … Which side are you on? If it was your son or daughter murdered by the cops, what side then?”
Devivo said he had no comment about the message in the graffiti across the building and that the Police Department’s investigation was ongoing.

“We’re going to support (the police) in any way that we can,” he said.